"How to Live to be 200" by Stephen Leacock is a sarcastic piece that tells you that it's impossible to live to be 200 and that people should stop obsessing over "health habits" in order to do this. I don't think he's completely right.Yes, you can't live to be 200 but why can't you help make sure that you live as long as possible? Although he is right in that accidents do happen and it would be awful if a person lives their entire life uncomfortably just to die the same way as everybody else, which is sometimes the case.
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Travis
3/31/2012 03:45:02 am
I think the essay wasn't saying "Don't try to be healthy", I think it was saying that we should keep calm about our health habits, and that it's better in moderation. Don't let yourself become a fat useless blob, but don't panic because you ate an extra carrot in your salad.
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Paul Garvey
3/15/2012 11:22:13 am
I read "The Way of All Flesh", by Judy Stoffman, and I was impressed by the author's brutal honesty about one of the most feared aspects of human life. Her analysis of aging from birth to death was both factual and emotional, appealing to my curiosity about the negative effects of aging, a process which I personally fear. The author says in the description that writing the piece helped her "enjoy each day to the fullest", and I think that is the underlying point of the essay. It may seem to be a pessimistic outlook on life at the surface, but I believe that at the core of the essay is the suggestion to take life a little bit more seriously, and live everyday fully aware of your own mortality.
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Trevor Lukan
3/15/2012 11:30:13 am
This essay stuck out to me the most as well, if only for how depressing it was. Did you feel sad just reading that essay Paul, or was it just me?
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Travis
3/31/2012 03:39:33 am
I wasn't sad as much as just interested, myself. I knew a good deal of those things would come with age, but vaguely. Really, things like this are only depressing if you let them be. I think it's quite nice to have a general idea of what's to come. Leaves less to worry about.
Avneet Parmar
3/15/2012 12:02:46 pm
Evelyn Lau’s essay, “I Sing the Song of My Condo”, goes through the process of how to become a renter to a homeowner and the many emotions that can have an effect on an individual when buying their own home for the first time. It shows the stress and pride that a person can experience when having something of their own. I found it interesting when she ended the essay by saying “I may never sleep again. But at last I am a homeowner” (p.278).
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Shaurya Tandon
3/15/2012 04:05:39 pm
I read Dandelion Coffee by Susanna Moodie and was fascinated by the fact that there is such a thing called Dandelion Coffee. After reading the essay, I felt like I needed to try some of it. It doesn't give steps but it certainly does hook the reader, therefore its written in the informational format. If anyone finds dandelion roots in there garden, please be kind enough to give them to me,Thank You.
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Karan Sharma
3/29/2012 08:55:49 am
Certainly Shaurya, although I must admit that I’m quite tempted to have them all for myself! On the writer’s part, I feel “short and sweet” was an effective choice for this particular essay.
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mandy
3/30/2012 05:35:04 am
The essay,"I Sing the Song of My Condo" by Evelyn Lau. she thoroughly describes the stress and ongoing problems a first time homebuyer experiences. I liked how Evelyn made every emotion the character had connected to buying a home so detailed.
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Shaurya Tandon
4/1/2012 12:48:36 pm
I really like the way how evelyn connects with the reader by choosing a topic as such. Buying a home is something that most of us have done and the problems that are faced in reality are described efficiently throughout the essay. Also did you read the intro?? She was a prostitute and a drug consumer at a very young age but became a writer even though she left schooling in gr 9
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Hannah Cudney
4/25/2016 03:45:22 pm
Evelyn Lau did an exceptional job on her story "I sing the song of my condo."
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